Evening Star Newspaper, October 26, 1926, Page 8

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. TUESDAY......October 26, 1926 —— THEODORE Y The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th 8t and Penn: Ave. Naw York Oftice: 110 Eagt 14pd St Chicago Ofce: Tower Building. Buropesa Oftice ‘o’l‘\'wmlngx.. Landon, 1and. NOYES. . . .Editor Nflo Trenine Star. with the Sunday meth. Adition, fa delivered by carriers wit city at’ 60 per month: delly ur““. Senis per month: Sundava orily. 20 cen q'r"l:;'.m)'(qr"'&"nmuc A ml o aln 3000, Collection is B €arrier at end of each month. Rate by Mall—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia. ..1yr.$9.00: 1 mo. ¥ 00 1 mo.. B0 11l1yrl$3.00: 1 mo 25¢ All Other States and Canada, and Sunday 1 ally only unday oniy . Member of the Assoclated Pre: The Asnociated Press {s ev!}n\ul)'hl\"fl to the use for republication of all news dis- patclien credited 10 1t or not otherwiss cred. ted In this paper and also the local news published herein = Al rights of publication of special disputches herein are aleo reserved The Power of Removal. In a decision of the utmost im- portance, and by a divided vote, six to three, the Supreme Court has de- clared that Congress cannot limit the power of the President to remove from office those whom he has ap- pointed to Federal positions. finally determines a question that has | frequently arisen in the past, but has never reached the point of a definite answer by the highest court. It es tablishes the principle that although appointments to office by the Pres! dent must be "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,” removals from office may be effected by him without such “advice and consent In the particular case which evoked the decision an act of Congress was affected, that act, passed in 1876, pro- viding for the removal of postmasters of the first, second and third classes “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate was a postmaster and his executor sued, after lis death, for recovery of salary for the perfod of his term which was interrupted by dismissal. The court not only holds that in this tnstance the President warranted in his removal, but broadens its in- terpretation of the Constitution to af- firm the right of the Chief Executive to remove from office all who hold presidential appointments, The reasoning of the majority of the court is that the power to remove executive officers is an incident of the power to appoint them and is in its nature an executive power. For efther branch of Congress to draw to itself the power of removal or participation in that power would be to infringe upon the constitutional principle of the separation of the governmental powers. The Constitution gives Congress the right to remove Federal officlals by impeachment brought by the House of Representatives and trial by the Senate. That has always been re- garded as an ultimate authority for exercise in extreme cases, wWhere the executive will not or does not take the initiative for the dismissal of un- worthy subordinate officials. In its decision the court does not proceed to the point of considering by what means other than impeachment Con- gress could effect the removal of offi- clals to whose appointment it has glven its “advice and consent” through the Senate. It has on a few occasions effected this by cutting off appropriations for the specific office or by abolishing those offices. This, however. is a clumsy and {indirect method of reaching an Incompetent’ or one charged with impropriety of conduct. Impeachment is the only direct means of removal and that re- quires a vote of two-thirds in the Sen- ate, & slow and uncertain proces Executive responsibility should not be shared with the leg ive branch of the Government. That responsibility extends to the selection of the per- sonnel of the executive branch. The Constitution interposes a check upon fmproper selections and appointments. When assent 1s given to appointment (he responsibility for the tenure of the officlal rests upon the President. He ocannot delegute the power of dis- missal to & superior subordinate. This decision is based in effect upon that clause of Section 1 of Article 2 of the Constitution which says: “The executive power shall be invested in a President of the United States.” It 1s strengthened by the clause of Sec- tion 2 of the same Article, which says that the President “shall nominate and by and with the advice and con- sent of the Senate shall appoint am- bassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court and all other officers of the United States, appointments are mnot hereln otherwise provided for, and ! be established by law.” further states that Con- gress “may by law vest the appoint. ment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of luw or in the heac of departments,” Despite the controversy which has raged for d-cades over this question it ghould he clear that the Supreme Court's present ruling is a correct in- terpretation of the constitutional divi slon of the Federal Government into three co-ordinate branches with the executive power, which is th: power of executive org: ition and admin- istration through a chosen personnel, vested in the President However the decision may be viewed, it is now the law of the land - ——— whose It is predicted that food will bel more expensive next Winter than ever before. Everything is going faster; even the rise in prices ——— A Romance in Finance. Developments in the case of the Pittsburgh Brotherhood Savings Bank, which closed a few days ago on dis- covery of the loss of $320,000 in cash, rival the romances of fiction. In the first place, the explanation given by bank efficlals who were accused with others of participating in the short- ap=-=~gveals a naivete which passes This | The official removed | comprehension. A salesman was to sell a block of bonds to the bank at a discount. The owner of the bonds could not be named, as he was a bank- rupt who was liquidating his assets Qn the quiet. The transaction had to be conducted under cover. The cash was secured in currency and the presi- dent of the bank went with the sales- man in a motor car to a certain spot in the business district where they separated, the salesman going with the money to secure the bonds, which were to be then returned to the wait- Ing president. He never returned. Then the would-be salesman, after some hours, was captured while in flight. He told a story quite as remarkable. He had gone to get the bonds, met the supposed owner at the entrance to an alley, was lured down the alley and robbed of the currency. The next chapter is quite as intriguing. All of the cash has been found. Detectives traced the salesman to the home of a man known to be one of his associates. The property of thfs man was search- ed and a package of ubout $50,000 was found buried in the yard. Then the salesman's friend admitted, after ar- rest, that the remainder of the cash was also burled and a further gearch disclosed it. The salesman, sald his friend, had gone to him in trouble and asked him to take care of the cur- rency for him, and he had done so out of affection, burying it for safe- keeping. Amateur work throughout. A cruder case has seldom been uncov- ered. The idea of a pool of bankers | buying fllicit bonds at a discount with- out knowing the name of the owner and Intrusting the cash to a go-be- | tween without security is a new one in finance. The story of the hold-up 18 not unfamiliar. The accommodat- ing friend who buried the’ cash is rather an Innovation. The unusyal feature of the matter is the prompt recovery of the currency and the round-up of the entire combination. The trial of this case ought to furnish the writers of detective novels with material for thrillers. ) Stalled on the Track. A motor car was caught on the irallrtfiad tracks near Riverdale, Md., | vesterday morning, and was destroyed when hit by a train. The occupants escaped by leaping just before the crash. The car had been stalled on the tracks when an effort was made to change route, one of the wheels catching between the ralls and all ef- forts to free it failing. Fortunately no damage was done save to the ma- chine. This crossing is one of the several |n this region outside of the District’s jurisdiction which daily menace life. Maryland authorities are working |toward ellmination of these death traps, but the process is slow. A par- |tleularly dangerous crossing at Hyattsville has been under consldera- tion for many months, for years. in fact, and because of a difference of opinion regarding the method of cor- |rection nothing has been accom- plished. Progress toward the cure of the grade crossing evil in the vicinity of ‘Washington has been slow to the point of exasperation. The District itself il’mn not been as speedy as it should have been in curing these evil condi- tions. There still remaln some death traps within the local boundaries. From time to time an aceident brings action, and at present there are pro- visions for further advance toward safety In respect to these Intersec- tions of traffic ways. In the case at Riverdale the acci- | dent wag caused by the sudden stop- | ping of the car on the tracks for the | purpose of changing route. That was, of course, decidedly the wrong place to stop. But many cars are stalled |through no fault of the drivers at | such places owing to the fact that the tracks e often approached by a slight rise in the highway, which calls for a shifting of gears. In many in- | stances the stalling s due to the sud- den panic of the driver, who finds | himself in peril and does precisely the | wrong thing with his machine, which |Is, indeed, the cause of many accl- ! dents at other places than grade cross- ings. The only way to prevent these mishaps is to make it impossible for a motorist to reach the tracks, and to do that it is necessary to carry the road over or under the rails. That | costs money. But whatever the cost !the highways should be separated | from the rail line in the areas of fre- quent traffic. —————— The number of people who see a prize fight is large. The number that | read about it is larger. Most of them profess to disapprove of ring battles, but everybody who can, sees them;and those who cannot, read about them. Human nature has not changed much since the original interest in David {and Goltath. 3 ! The Juvenile Juniper. Out in Utah, near the Logan Canyon | Highway, stands what is belleved to be the oldest juniper tree in the world. It has been stated by scientists that | it can be no less than three thousand ! years of age. Its diameter, four feet above ground, is seven and one-half foet. Not the least interesting thing about this ancient but. still vigorous trunk is the fact, disclosed by a sec- tion of the wood, that only a few centuries ago ft was growing as | rapiaty as at any time during ts lte. The section also indicates that the {tree's early struggles for existence were made under adverse conditions. | The point to be noted is that this j;unlper not only kept on growing, but kept on growing as rapldly when it . was old as it had when it was in its prime. There was no slump in middle age or in the first portion of its old | age. It got the habit when young | and when growing was a task; it kept {it up for an astounding period. Unfortunately man’s period of physi- cal growth is strictly limited by nat- | ural laws. So is the period of im- | provement {n the size and texture of his muscles, his arterles and his organs. Fortunately, however, there is no Uimit of any sort on the growth of his mental powers. Again and again it has been demonstrated that a man can eurpass at eighty the in- tellectual powers he had attained at THE EVENING STAR. seventy. And, as in the case of this venerable tree, early obstacles to mental attainments seem to stimulate rather than to retard. Let the read- er, no mattet his age, remember that the cells of his brain are superfor to the cells ot any tree, past, present or future. Tagged Forever. Smaller and smaller grows the list of things that sclence and invention cannot do. Let the need be urgent enough, and some man or some group of men works out the solution of al- most any problem. A few days ago a valued officer of the District police force was slain, circumstances pointing to murder. The tangible clues left behind were a necktie and & pistol. The scarf in. dicates nothing. The weapon might Indicate much had not the slayer pos- sessed the forethought patiently to file off its serial number. This plstol was taken to the United States Bureau of Standards to ascertain if acid baths could bring out the needed number. Failure at- tended that effort. Now it has been taken to the factory of the arms com- pany which made it. Better luck 1§ hoped for, but no one is optimistic about the result. There is a chance here for some ex- pert in the employ of an arms com- pany to do a distinct service for American criminology. Some way must be found so to identify each lethal weapon; so to incorporate its distinctive number with the very mechanism of the gun itself that any obliteration of the former will auto. |tWeen those who regard education as matically render the whole plece of machinery useless. will be done and it will mark a decldeg forwar¢ step in the sclence of the apprehension and punishment of mur- derous criminals, i —————— The beauty of the Autumn scene 1s, a8 usual, generously referred to in poetry. As nearly everybody now has a motor car, the wet leaves which create a skiddy roadway no longer command much sentimental consid- eration, oo A so-called “Noah's Ark,” laden with all kinds of animals, has arrived. It is the more welcome because it is strictly modern and involves no pos- science. v A Chicago prima donna appreclates the great llbrettists as much as any- body. But her favorite author will al- ways be the man who wrote “It pays to advertise.” ——————_ A homicide mystery, even thoygh it provides for no general distribution of cash prizes, is popularly accepted as the most fascinating form of guessing contest. e The Hohenzollern family have lost all prestige as warriors. new era of thrift and {ndustry a great deal of admiration must go to them as financiers. b e Any kind of a nomination he wants Is avaflable to Gov. Al Smith. He is compelled to exercise his own discre- tion in the presence of an embarrass- ment of riches. e It is possible that “crime waves" are no more frequent than in the past. are discussed with increasing candor. oo Loud and boisterous talking and public profanity are offenses on the sidewalk, but command a remarkable amount of toleration in the theater. e SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. A Grind. A Queen must go from town to town With numerous cares at hand. We dearly love to view a crown ‘mbollcal of command. While bowing to vast applause, And travel on at a weary pace With never a restful pause. A Queen must not complain or s And yet, she must be inclined To view this life, as the days roll by, As a dlademnition grind! Consclence. “How do you intend to vote on pro- hibition?"* ‘“According to my conscience,” an- swered Senator Sorghum. con- scientiously strive to represent my constituents and I'm going to vote in accordance with the prevailing sentl- | ment.” Celestial Exhibition. “Twinkle, twinkle, little star!” Sclentists, so watchful, are, As you shed your glorious glow, Great press agents for the sow! Jud Tunkins says the man who is throwing a bluff; is comfortable until the bluff turns out to be a boomerang. A Suspect. “We understand there is a bootleg- ger in your settlement."” “I have long suspected it an- swered Uncle Rill Bottletop. “There's only one man in the place that seems able to pay all his bills.” Royalties. On Rovalty from o'er the sea We look with great respect; And also on the royalty That Royalties collect. Hi Ho, the sage of Chinatown, says the average ‘“philosopher” is a man who is trying to be cheerful though broke. “Happiness,” said Uncle Eben, “can't be found by envious compet!- tion. It's go to be homemade.” ——r—e——————— The Private Code. From the Colorado Springs Sunday Gazette and Telegraph. You can hold a private conversation in public if you speak some forelgn tongue or perfect English. Attention, Senator Lenroot! From the Altoona Mirror. One good way to get out the vote in this country, it seems, would be to put a high fence around every booth, with a sign. saying “Keep ou.: | | | sible controversy between religion and | But in a| News facilities are greater and crimes A Queen must smile with regal grace | | contribution to those interested in edu- | | | have never been compelled to change | their mental habits, he says, and have ! Wedgwood, Walter Runciman, Hilton WASHTINGTON, D. O, THIS AND THAT BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL. The idea that one may be mistaken about anything generally comes to a man with a start at about the age of 30. Very few before that critical age ever feel for a second that they might be wrong upon any given theme. From souls to solids, from music to *h, no one hesitates a secontl about giving his opinion and backing it up with copious argument. And the more he argues the more he convinces him- self that he believes what he says he believes! After awhile, however, something happens. A thought tha. has been floating around in his subconscious mind comes to the fore, timidly at t. but later with large leaps. At last it finds expression in _some such words as the following: “Now, 1 w? der—1 wonder if I am right, after all. ‘When a man has admitted that much to his ego, his real education has begun. ? i The great value of Bertrand Rus- sell's “Education and the Good Life" (Boni & Liveright) lies in the fact that he causes the reader to wonder if the education he himself received, or is recelving, or is giving his chil- dren, is education by propaganda or by the use of the intellizence. Education as propaganda and edu- cation as genuine thinking are sharp- ly diversified in this book, which we attempted to give some idea of the other day, but which we belleve we have better traced now to its greatest cation. “There can be no agreement be- a means of instilling certain definite beliefs and those who think that it Undoubtedly thi§ | should produce the power of inde- pendent judgment,” says Mr. Russell, who stands up before the world stress- Ing “the educational importance of parents.” An ideal character (such as every parent hopes to make his child) would possess four characteristics, according to our author: Vitality, courage, sen- sitiveness and intelligence. . Passing over the first three, let us consider the fourth, that one which has to do with wonder—both the won- dering curlosity of the little child and the wonder of which we have spoken, that of the adult who begins to ark himself if he is always right, as he had so fondly imagined. Mr. Russell champions the Intelli- gence. Even in 1926 this is something of a task. Despite the wonders of the human mind, reflections of the universal mind, large sections of so- feel called upon to sneer at that which has made mankind's progress possible. Many hold the idea that in- telligence, in some strange way, 18 divorced from kindness and decency. A few striking examples of this cu- rious divorce have been taken as universal, “Yet, the more a man has learnt, the easier it s for him to learn still more,” as this author says. This algo applies to morals, Ignorant people stiffened into an unchangeable atti- tude. “It 18 not only,” he says, “that they are credulous where they should be skeptical; it is just as much that they are incredulous where they should be receptive.” Yet older persons find it almost impossible to be receptive to newer doctrines, such as in the scien- tific raising of children. mothers, as every one knows, never take kindly to the “newer methods." L B AR Mr. Russell admits that it is pos- sible to impart information in ways that do not train the Intelligence; “it is not only possible,” he declares, “but easy and frequently done.” Then he makes the following some- what startling statement: “1 regard the cultivation sof intelli- gence as one of the major purposes of education, Surely, one might exclaim, that is exactly what all education has done! What is the fellow trying to get at? “This might seem a_commonplace calmly continues Mr. Russell, “but in fact it is not. The-desire to instill what are regarded as correct beliefs has made educatlonists too often in- different to the training of the intelli- gence." Is the educational world, then, just about fin its thirtieth year, too? * % ok ok Many an elder, reading here, will realize, with something of a start, that much that he “knows” is really not knowledge on his part, but simply {deas that may or may not be true, but which many good men and true in the past regarded as true, and were willing to cram into him sort of wholesale mental coaling proces: If you have ever seen a big ship coal, "you will recall how the dirty cargo is put in by the aid of every one working strenuously together. If a man now and then gets impaled on a hook, and killed, it is merely part of the job. He is another unknown hero. We products of the educational sys- tem of America realize (after we are 30) that we have been ‘“coaled” with knowledge. And now it is up to every thinking person to examine his hold and see if the coals which he has aboard are really good coals! This is a task for any man and every man, and one that demands true courage, If any ever did, for even today the mass of the populace is but timidly discussing questions that true-thinking men long age decided for themselves. “It 18 not important to increase the amount of what is learnt above that now usually taught to the children of the professional classes,” Mr. Russell says. “What is impertant {s the spirit of adventure and liberty, the sense of setting out upon a voyage of discov- ery.” Do you, kind reader, look upon edu- catlon in that light, or are you “sot” in_your ways? Is education a torment or a pleasure to_vour children? ‘What do you really know, anyway? | And what will your children know? ‘Will it be enough, or—too much? Liberal Chief’s Retirement Stirs Interest of Americans The retirement of the Earl of Ox- ford and Asquith from leadership of the Liberal party is of interest to Americans chiefly because of its pos- sible bearing on the future alignment of parties in British politics. There is much speculation as to whether the new condition will offer an opportu- nity to Lioyd George for a return to real power. The Syracuse Herald belleves that “the Liberal feud will now be revived in an aggravated form by the struggle for the leadership centering in Lloyd jeorge and Oxford's legatee, Simon, who i3 not only a la r of first rank but a resourceful campaligner and ag- gressive fighter.” The Herald adds that the Liberals’ “present third-party status is discouraging enough without serious internal division,” but it holds that “nevertheless, it would be rash to assume that the Liberal party is hopelessly decadent as a factor in British politic: “The party is being crushed be- tween two extremes,” in the opinlon of the New Orleans Item, “and most of its members realize their predica- ment. Thousands went over to Labor last election. Other thousands, who had more to gain the other way, went over to the Conservatives. The little remnant convened, talked, fought, cried for an issue, and found nothing more interesting than a foreign policy of conciliation and a domestic policy of agricultural relief. It has done much good in the past, and could do much good in the future, if the pres- ent acrimonious, economic struggle in England, as it likely will, becomes more bitter if not more violent. When those days come, a party of concilia- tion should be at hand, but it is doubt- ed, most of all by the Liberals them- seives, that a party can be kept in ex- istence on such a weak appeal.” * K % ok “The future of the party, with its tendency toward the Left accentuat- ed,” according to the New York World, “is problematical, but it may be an important future, for, though it ‘holds only some twoscore seats in the House, it has 3,000,000 workers and a crisis may give it many more. It enrolls able leaders— Sir John Simon, Comdr. Kenworthy, Josiah Young. Much will depend on the skill_with which the party presents its claim as the sole alternative be- tween Toryism on the one hand and Socialism on the other.” The Sche- nectady Gazette, while stating that “the battle between the Asquith,and Lloyd George factions weakened the organization,” already “forced into third place,” suggests that “with the former out, the latter may be able to rebuild his organization and to re- store it to its former strength.” “Lord Oxford, seeing the futility of further fighting.” in_the opinion of the Atlanta Journal, “has resigned as leader, but will continue the great spokesman for the party In the, House | of Lords, and doubtless will give Eng. land much wise counsel out of the wis vears, The aggressive 1" politics, however, will be played by the ‘Welsh wizard,' how successfully remains to be seen. These | are uncertaln days in_England; her | own ablest observers do not forecast | what the throws of party dice will turn forth.” The Vanccuver Star offers the view: “That Lord Oxford will be succeeded by Mr. Lloyd George may be regarded as certain. The choice of any other statesman would but widen the split between the two wings, which it is doubtless Lord Oxford's intention to terminate by this act of self-abnega- tion. The Liberal party will achieve a unity which it has not known for nearly a dozen yvears. It will also have a policy—the land policy of one of the most dvnamic leaders British politics has ever known. It is not unlikely, therefore, that it will ex perience’ a revival throughout th country which may go a long way toward restoring it to something ap- proaching its ancient power and prestige.” On the other hand, the Loutsville Herald-Post believes that “Lloyd George, while assuming the mantle of leadership for the Liberals, will prob- ably remain on the putside looking in" The Brooklyn Dally Eeagle feels that “most American observers will regard this retirement as the last gasp of liberalism,” and agrees that “per- haps it is" The Newark Evening News is convinced that “Mr. Lloyd George may not expect to regain his old popularity,” and that he ‘“can serve his country again by following Mr. Asquith’s lead, clearing the field for new hands in the Liberal party.” The New York Sun asserts that “al- though Asquith has relinquished the leadership voluntarily, this does not mean that it will go to his chief op ponent”; that it “does pave the wi for agreement upon a compromise candidate, provided there is a spirit | of compromise. “Asquith’s passing from Britain's political arena after almost continu- ous public service for 50 years is a reminder of how differently the Britons regard thelr leaders as com- pared with Americans,” remarks the Birmingham News. “When a big- gauged, intellectually equipped states- man im trained for service, his name does not pass from the calendar. In the case of Asquith it is significant of Rritish liberality that at the very mo- ment when the Liberals were ap- parently snowed under forever he was lifted to the House of Lords as a rec- ognition not merely of his lenkth of service but as a tribute to his unfal- tering courage and statesmanship dur- ing nearly half a century.” The St. Paul Dispatch says of his retirement atter “defeat on a fleld of his own choosing” that “after waiting long enough to be able to retreat in order and dignity he has ylelded the field to his slightly younger and much more vigorous rival.” THINK IT OVER A Thousand Dollars, By William Mather Lewis, President George Washington University A thousand dollars is a handy thing | to have about. When opportunity knocks, the door {s sometimes opened only with a golden key. Those who ought to know are tell- ing a Lincoln incident, which does not appear in the biographies. The story goes that an Eastern man set up a factory for the manufacture of agri- cultural machinery in an Illinois town. In course of time he was sued by another manufacturer for infringe- ment of patent. A local attorney was engaged by the defense with instructions to secure the best assoclates obtainable. Fol- lowing these instructions he obtained Edwin M. Stanton. Then the local attorney advised the retention of a Springtield lawyer by the name of Abraham Lincoln, not because he was needed on the case, but so the opposi- tion could not secure his service. Lincoln was engaged for $1,000, and sat through the trial, really in the capacity of a spectator. Mr. Walt Talcott, who told this story, is quoted as saying, “Not long before his death, while talking with friends in the White House about that great reaper suit, President Lincoln said, ‘That fee was the largest I ever had, and it came at the right time. With: out it I should have been compelled to decline Douglas’ challenge to stump the State with him.’” It was the Lin- coln-Douglas debates which brought the future President to the attention of the Nation. So it may be fair to say that the $1,000 fee was the key which opened to him the door of the Executive Office, A thousand dollars is a handy thing to have about. (Coyright. 1926.) ———s Easy for Criminals. From the Boston Transeript. According to Joab H. Banton, dis- trict atturney In New York, the pres- ent method of prosecuting criminals is like trying to catch a 1926 auto- mobile with an ox team. In other words, the escaping criminal steps on the gas while the lawyers are shout- ing "Hawl” and “Gee Grand- | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1926. NEW BOOKS AT RANDOM LG M. THE CHARWOMAN'S SHA_[ZK)W. Lord Dunsany. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. You might not miss it for ever so long—if you were to lose your shadow, as the charwoman lost hers, as Ra- mon Alonzo came within an ace of losing his, away back In the Golden | Age, where Lord Dunsany came upon this hapless pair. For one’s shadow is so familiar a companion, on hand at every turn, certain to put in its appearance at the proper time, that there seems to be no call to check it up as one has to check up money or success or any other of the elusive and fugitive things of life. 8o, vou see,- were you actually to lose your shadow it might be a long time be- fore you woke up to the fact that it was really gone. “And. come to think of it, what a companionable thing one's shadow is! Unobtrusive, unchallenging, it trudges on ahead or lingers to the | rear, oddly reflecting one's spirit and | mood, grave or gay, in pace and pos- ture, In gait and gesture. Now and then, in truth, it seems to go off on its own, so to speak, in a puckish grotesque mimiory, poking fun at its sober companion, saying in Ien‘ect. “Oh, what's the use! Might's well laugh as to be so solemn over it all. We're a long time dead!” Then with a final frisky little caper it settles again to the steadler stride of its companion. Thinking once again, what a griev- ous loss, what a frightening loss it would be if there were no shadows |at all! No leaf shades on the sunlit | gr dancing to the measures set by | gentle winds, no helght of mountain | or hill laying down its cool s(‘(‘ond‘ self across the heated highway. no | snowy cloud fleeces shepherded in | deep clear pools. But, why dwell upon lesses that cannot come to pass? For shadows are law-abiding creatures, effects of clearly defined causes, as sure to take their places in the regulated scheme of things as the sun itself is bound to follow its predestined course. No fear. There will continue to be, certainly, the comfort and reassurance of all the companlonable shadows of the world. The fantastic notion of a lost shad- ow sharpens passing attention upon this familiar friend, so imponderable vet so fluid in immediate response to |every least movement of its compan- { 1o And the mind slips over, nat- urally, to that other intangible part| of one, the spirit. It is here that the dreams of beauty brood, and the sl sions of hope. It is by means of thls[ that one is able to wing out and away into illimitable time and space and circumstance. Just suppose that this priceless ethereal part cowld also, like the shadow, be forfeit to loss or barter or other destructive agency! Unthinkable! And why conjure up | terrible things merely because a poet has made magic with a story. Much more sensible to go along with Lord Dunsany in a sober bal- ancing of facts that made up the strange e of the charwoman and | her shadow. 8o, with him back into the Golden Age, we go to an old hill town of Spain. And, somehow, we feel quite at home here. For the con- suming passion of the place is for riches—money, lands, wealth of pow- er, largess of dowry for husband-hun- gry daughters, gold-lined pathwa for growing sons. Back of the old town in the deep forest frowning above it a great ma- giclan lived, so they id, one who by mysterious arts was able to tran: mute all minor metals into drossles: gold. And he, too, seems familiar, something like our own captain of industry, wizard of fingnce, magnate of this, that and the other gainful thing. But, of course, there could be no real likeness, for the Golden Age in which this magician lived is far | away in a dim and forgotten past. | To get on with the matter of Ramon | Alonzo, sent by his father up into the | forest to learn the lore of the money- maker. Once arrived, the plans were soon completed and Ramon set about his task. Threading the gloomy aisle: of the wizard's retreat, the boy, da after day, came upon an old woman on her knees, scrubbing, scrubbing all the long days through. In pity he fell into a way of talking, friendly like, ta the crone, telling her hi plans. One day he came along in high glee over an absurd offer made to him by the wise man. Nothing more, this, than the silly business of giving over his shadow In payment for his tuition in the wondrous art. Then the charwoman went down be- fore the boy in tearful and passionate prayer that he would not yleld to this wicked offer. In an urgency of ap- peal she at last told him her own ter- | ribie secret—that long before, under the speclous promises of the magician, she had bartered away her own shadow, thereafter sinking to the ter- ror and ignominy of being a shadow- less human being. She recountedto him the personal loneliness of her plight, bereft of this lifelong companion. She plctured the sinister difference from others that made her first an object of ridicule, then one of suspicion and fear as a sorceress, then finally an object of hatred and persecution. Deeply impassioned, she polnated to the object of his search as a really worth- fess thing. She told him, in tears, that the search for gold alone would finally take from him even more than his shadow. It would reach into his spirit, she sald, defiling his bright dreams, distorting his high vision, rob- bing him of the beauty and joy and worthiness of life. Not this all at once, to be sure, but here and there as the days went by did the old crone plead with him in such anguish of protest that Ramon feared to tell her what he had already ylelded. He did not tell the charwoman that he had exchanged his shadow for “one just as good” cut out painstakingly from the original by the crafty magiclan. Instead of teiling her that, Ramon asked her if she knew where her shadow was: Oh, ves, it was in a box—a long crocodile box, a gray slithery thing, hateful to see! And there were other shadows in the box that could not be opened except by a magic rune known only to the wizard himself. And when outside the nights were dark and flerce with storm of wind and rain, then he opened the box, so the old woman said, to send these shadows off and away upon errands of unspeakable wickedness, each of them a special emissary of evil to augment the baleful power of this monstrous being. Listening, the heart of young Ramon fired to the hazard of rescuing the charwoman’s shadow, ot bringing it back to her for the comforting of her shadow-lorn existence. And so, the story goes on with the adventure | of rescue set for himself by the voung Ramon.. box. There was the uncannily wise magician to circumvent by a seeming devotion to the task of learning to create_gold out of next to nothin~ And Ramon had serious troubles of his own. His new shadow wasn't be- having at all according to the custom of shadows. It lacked the pliancy that made his own old shadow sp com- pliant toward the daily passage of the sun from east to west. He was on the edge of meeting from his kind Just the treatment that had so dark- ened the life of the charwoman— ridicule, suspiclon, avoidance. Then, in plain open-and-above-board matters Ramon was having a hard time. There were accountings to be made to his anxious father as to the prog- ress of his mastery of the supreme | become a dominion. ‘There was the mystic | rune to learn for the opening of the | ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Q. Upon what food do Rocky Moun- taln gonts subsist?>—T. A. N. | A. Thelr food seems to consist| chiefly of the short, almost lichen-like moss that grows on the rocks and in | the crevices between them. | Q. What is the rate of fall of the Rhine River?—E. S. A. The rapid Rhine has a fall of about 4 feet in 1 mile between haffhausen and Strassburg, and of 2 feet from Strassburg to the border of Holland. Q. How many people lived in Rome at its heicht N. W. A. There is no record extant, but it Is belleved, basing a computation on | the amount of corn consumed and the rumber of houses, that Rome may have had almost 2,000,000 inhabitants. Q. What is the Summer base of the United States Asiatic fleet?>—A. D. A. Chefoo, China, is the Summer base for the Aslatic fleet, which has a personnel varying between 5,000 and 8,000 officers and men. Q. Do the players on the teams finishing second, third and fourth in both leagues share in the world series money?—W. A. T. A. They do share. This is the first vear in which the players in the clubs finishing fourth are included. The amounts paid to these players come out of the money designated as players' shares. Q. Is a person from Indlana called an_“Indianan” or “Indianian”?— O P. N. A.'The term is “Indianian.” Q. Why is_embroldery from the Phiitppines called “Madeira”?—C. A. A. Embroidery of this kind was originally imported from Madeira. Now it is also made in the Philippines, but the same name is used. Q. Who are the Uhlans?—H. E. A. A The Uhlans are a varfety of light cavalry which was introduced into central Europe by the Tatars. The Uhlans were adopted from the Tatars by the Poles, Austrians, Russians and Prussians, They were used with great effect In the Franco-Prussian War. Q. Has Queen Mary of England an ancestor who ruled England?—P. J. D. A. Queen Mary of England s de- scended from George I11. George 111 had a son_Adolphus, Duke of Cam- bridge, 1774-1850, whose daughter, Francis, Duke of Te ‘These were the parents of Queen Mary, Q. Where i< the Luml Indian Reser- vation?—A. H. A. It is a small reservation near the Canadlan horder in the State of Wash- 0 allotments undsr 1855. Q. Are the Tw: Disciples and Apostles the same?--K. R A. The Twelve Disciples were the original Aposties. Later this term was used to designate those who promoted the doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There were a great many later apostles, the most prominent of whom was the Apostle Paul. Q A. is paper currency that has been reduced to a pulp. Our paper money Is destroved In this way, the re. sultant 1p often being made into souventr: ‘What is macerated money?— G. iy What _style arie’—S. H. M A. Queen Marie has a “Los An- geles” bob. This style of bob was in- troduced in Paris early in the Spring by Mrs. Walter Leimert, wife of a prominent southern California realtor. The malin feature of this type of hair- cut s its unusually long sides, which, instead of being brushed backward over the head, are made to curl for- ward well below the ear, which gives the face a touch of softness. Q. Does the country of Brazil have a dead letter office?—R. T. A, In_the country of Brazil thera fs an office maintained by the Brazl Post Office that atterds to undeliver able mail matter. This is really dead letter of although it ma not be called by that name in Brazti. Any reader can pet the answer to any question by writing The Evening Star Information Burcau, Frederio J Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. This offer applies strictly to informa- tion. The bureau canmot give ad- wvice on legal, medical and financlal matters. It does not attempt to settle domestic troubles, nor undertake ex- haustive research on any subfect. Write your question plainly and brief- n ve full name and address and inclose 2 cents in stamps for return postage. The reply is sent direct to the inquirer. Address The Evening Star, Information Bureau, Frederio J. has Queen Princess Marle Adelaide, married The ninth session of the British Imperial Conference is now sitting in London. It is a conference of the prime ministers of all British do- minions, together with the prime min- ister of Great Britain. The proceed- ings are ultra-secret s they deal with the major policies of the empire, nd, mayhap, with the supreme ques- tions on which hang the continuance or_disintegration of the empire itself. When the first conference after the World War was held, in 1921, Prime Minister Mass & characterized it as the net,” but the name met with little favor and has been dropped, for the “empire cabinet” has no legal powers to enforce its judgments upon the administration or the King; it is ad land was not bound even by the ad vice of his prime minister und_cabi- net, nor by Parliament. Now all gov erning power lies in the cabinet and liament—but *“tom : ¥ develop powers dominion_represent policies even to the British ment and the cabinet of the King if the “Imperial Conference” of the dominion prime ministers continues to function and declare the will of the now superior part of the empire—the outlying dominfons. At the time of the first Imperial Conference, in 1914, the United King dom of England, Scotland and Wal with Ireland, exceeded the combined population of the dominions by 31. 000.000. Most of Ireland has ceased ‘o be a part of Great Britain and has In the 1923 con ference the dominions exceeded the mother country by 24,000,000, and the dominfons began to speak with the authority of the majority. The name “British Empire” is dropped and in its place is substituted the ‘“British Commonwealth." In the 1917 conference, with the | prime ministers of all the dominfo present, recorded: “That any such readjustment (the reference was to the proposed con stitutional conference to adopt a writ- ten constitution), while thoroughly preserving all existing powers of self- government and complete control of domestic affairs, should be based upon full recognition of the dominions as autonymous nations of an imperia commonwealth nnd of India (it had just been dectded that India should be represented in future imperial con ferences as an important portion of the same), and should recognize t right of the dominions and India tc an adequate voice in forelgn relations and should provide effective arran ments for a continuous consultation in all matters of common impe concern and for such concerted tion as the several governments may determine.” Surely that meant no more “ti tion without representation measured the stretch between Britain under George III and George V. No written constitution has been formu- lated yet, but it ls within the of the imperial conferences. wiikin e the following action w The famous English Quarter Round Table, sums up the evolution of empire as follows: “The Great War, that great testing time, gave the final proof of the the co-operative mind. The one idea is represented in one form by the British commonwealth, and in another, but no less effective form, by the American commonwealth. idea is symbolized in the League of Nations.” While the editor of the Round Table fiict, he clearly assumes that they are fcan and British commonwealths on one side and the co-operati of Nations on the other. The British commonwealth alone constitutes one-quarter of the world, both In area of territory (18,000.000 miles) and in population (450.000,060). Its dominions, as nations independent in domestic affairs, yet allled in im- menace and fear. Then—triumph rescue of both himself and the « woman from the thrall of the m Then—magic greatest of all Youth come back with the restored shadow of the charwoman. Romance, love and happiness. To be sure, this is a fairy tale, a | parable, an allegory, a what-not of I tive invention. Above all, it is beautiful poetry. Here the poet | has taken an enduring body of truth and has garbed it sumptuously in the glamours of a far past, in the simple concerns of average people, in | the realitles of the human heart, in art. There were common things to Co when he from time to time visited the old home. The obdurate, uncom promising sbadow was his constant the promises of the spirit, In the dan- gers that lurk beside man. But—it is | 2:1 beautiful as it is true. A simple, tender, sipging thing throughout. Time was when the King of Eng-| i agenda | . | the' preferenc. superiority of the commonwealth over | The other | infers that the two {deas need not con- | two opposite ideas, putting the Amer- | ®lmuch as Haskin, director, Washington, D. C. BACKGROUND OF EVENTS BY PAUL V. COLLINS. perial matters, constitute a league more powerful in action than that of Geneva, if the dominlons hold to- gether in one great commonwealth. In the last March issue the Round Table said: “In due time, if it is preserved, the empire must inevitably develop into a al commonwealth of equal partners, aring power and responsibility alilke. In the meantime there is no need to despair and no need for revolution.” * x ok ok One of the chief bones of contention now between the distant dominlons and the central government {s the ob- | ligation of the Locarno treaty, which | binds Great Britain to go to war to safeguard the present boundary of Belgium and the international boun- dary between France and Germany. In case of aggression by France agninst Germany, Great Britaln must {send an army to help defend Germany. | In many first invades France, | Great Britain myst go to the ald of | France. But wilrs seldom start by overt acts, and what arbiter will de- ho is the aggressor, in case Ger- ¢ defaults in payment of repara- tions under the Dawes plan and France reinvades the S according to the terms of the Versallles treaty? Will Australia or New Zealand or Canada or South Africa recognize an obligation to war to uphold the boun- daries of Eurove?” Again the Round Table speaks: bt is to happen when CGreat Britain or any part of the empire is drawn into a serious war? War is | the supreme test of unity of the em- |pire, for its parts cannot be at war and not at war at the same time. Yet |if the King declares war on the ad- | vice of the British ministers, all the dominions constituionally and | und rnational law, in a condl- |t erency, though they need | not, of course, take an active part in the prosecution of war. it would be presumably the me if the King could he induced to declare war on the advice of any do- | minion ministry. Whenever an acute international crisls develops into a |serious war, all parts of the empire will be faced with the alternatives of being forced into the us of bellig- | erency, by the action of Great Britain, for of escaping belligerency by seced- ing from the empire.” * v not secession provoke a | h civil war as it did in the | United States? Because of that alter- native, and, further, because of eco- onsideraiions, the dominions more and more nsistently, ve share in developing the pol 1d_supervising the administ | the government of the com- { monwealth. In Great Britain (the {sland) there 18 {overpopulation and unemployment. In all the dominions there is under- population and retarded development of natural resources. This s the main problem—how to equalize thess | discrepancie b nions have been giving to | Gre Britiin a preferential rate in which, they claim, amounts to 100,000 sterling per annum, while wiven to the dominfons n_amounts to only Dominions demand put a prot with a pre by Great £1,000,000. Th 1t Great Prit tariff on her impor ential to th2 doiunions, so as to give ter monopoly in her markets to mports from the dominions. To that | Great Britain declares she will nev [pur a tariff on fodstuffs. The @ | minjons want to put their own pro- [tective tariffs on manufactures so as to bufld up “home industries,” but Great Britain obj so far as that would limit her own manufactures i1 her dominion marke In reply to the protest of the do- fons because their preferential tar benefit reat Britain 12 times as the bene dominions { have in British he E 1[\-.ml to the doy 'r ‘om the g British Navy and Army—to which the dominions do not rihute proportionately |~ The cost of t navy and afr | forces is b eat Britain, £546, (000,000 a year; b ada, £29,000,000; Australia, £33,000,000, Per capita ay for the upkeep of and naval protection, in round f . £12; the Canadians pay £3, and the Australians £6. The British | Argue that as all the dominions have | full protection, the Inequality of the cost of that defense more than offsets | the preferential tariffs on imports in | the respective markets. | It is proposed that the imperial con ference devise some method of making lan impartial survey of conditior | throughout the commonwealth and so | adjust the tariffs and the imperial de fense as to equalize the costs and benefits, the adjustments to be enacted dominion Parlia Brit ot for- | iffs N4